12 years of 'Big Gay Sing'
One of the most fun things about my old job, and possibly the achievement of which I am most proud, has been NYCGMC’s annual singalong show, ‘Big Gay Sing’. I originally developed the concept with our team in New York in 2009. After my session on how to do one at a GALA Symposium, Big Gay Sings have now been done by scores of other choruses across the US and around the world.
So what exactly is a Big Gay Sing? It’s very simple. The audience has HUGE fun singing familiar, fun, silly and classic songs, enjoys the cliché of it all, and recognizes themselves in the uber-gayness. In the process, they connect with 300 of their closest gay friends on stage. Here i am in 2012 with a few chorus members, explaining the whole thing …
Big Gay Sing is also a bit of a secret weapon. Through the alchemy of singing together, singers bond and find their community, activist messages are put across, and audience and singers discover what they have in common. Several gay couples have even got married in Big Gay Sings!
Here are some of the most fun Youtube clips, mostly taken by audience members, featuring Big Gay Sings of different vintages, themes and political messages, in New York City, London, Mexico City, Denver, Columbus and St Louis. Enjoy some of the stupidest, campiest and most heartfelt singing I’ve had the privilege of directing in my career. It’s not always pretty, but who says choral singing can’t be fun?